Detachable heel lift



June 16, 1936. E, E, R. SWANSON 2,044,409

DETACHABLE HEEL LIFT Filed NOV. 14, 1955 Patented June 16, 1936 UNITESTYEES EMMA@ FATE??? FEQE Claims.

This invention relates to heel lifts and particularly to heel lifts ofwomens low shoes or slippers.

The general object of the invention is the pro- 5 vision of a heel liftso constructed that when worn, it may be readily detached and a new heellift placed upon the lower end of the shoe heel and in this connectionto provide a heel lift which is so constructed that it may be readilyput in place by anyone with the least possible trouble and withoutrequiring any particular tools not found in any family and which, whenapplied, will remain firmly in place against any turning movement.

Another object is to provide a connection between the heel lift and theshoe comprising a screw, the screw having a portion of its length formedas a wood screw, the remainder of the length being formed as a metalscrew with a relatively fine and low pitched thread, this screw after itis forced into the heel of a shoe, remaining therein, the lift itselfbeing provided with a metallic plate having screw threads engaging themetal screw threads on the screw embedded in the heel.

A further object is to provide means, sold with the heel lift, wherebythe screw may be readily turned into the heel initially and which willprevent a pair of pliers being used in an attempt to force the screwinto the body of the heel and which will prevent the user from hammeringthe screw into place.

A further object is to provide a device of this character which will notmar the appearance of the shoe in any way and which will permit theready detachment of worn heels at any time and the interchange of heelsfrom a right hand shoe to a left hand shoe, for instance, so as topermit the even wearing down of the heels.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein:

Figure l is a perspective View of a heel having my improved liftthereon;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view through the heel shown in Figurel;

Figure 3 is a perspective view of the metallic plate which is embeddedin the heel before the tongues are bent upward;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a slightly modied form in which theplate is inserted within a recess formed in the lower face of the heel;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the cap for initially attaching theshank II to the heel;

Figure 6 is a perspective View of the heel before the lift has beenapplied thereto.

Referring to this drawing, I0 designates a shank of metal, one end ofwhich is formed to provide a relatively long pointed wood screw II. Theopposite end is formed to provide a relatively short screw threadedportion I2, the screw threads of which are low in pitch and relativelyfine. Between these two portions Il and I2, the shank l isunscrew-threaded, as at I3.

In order to provide means whereby this screw may be driven into the heelof a shoe, I design to sell with the screw itself a cap M. This cap hasan interior bore the same in diameter as the portion I2 of the shanklil, this interior bore being screw threaded. The cap may be many-sidedin cross-section and is preferably provided at one end with a nicky I5.The bore IS of the cap has the same length as the screw threaded portionI2, so that when the cap is turned onto the portion I2, the inner end ofthe cap will bear against the end of the portion I2. When this cap isturned fully home on the screw, it is obvious that a screw driver may beused in the nick l5 to initially start the screw into the wood of theheel and after the screw is started, the pliers or a wrench may be usedfor turning the many-sided cap id in a direction to cause the furtherpenetration of the shank Ill until the screw Il has been forced its fulllength into the heel of the shoe with the portion I 3 embedded in theheel. After the shank has been embedded in the heel, of course, the capI4 is turned off, and its usefulness is over except for the fact that itmay be used thereafter for fixing other screws in other heels.

The lift il' is preferably made of rubber as is usual in the nal lift ofa heel and embedded within this rubber is a metallic plate I8. Thisplate has the shape of the lower end of the heel and is of suchdimensions that the plate is less in area than the cross-section of thelift, In other words, the plate i8 has the shape of a semioval.Projecting from the straight edge of the plate at the middle thereof isa tongue I9 which is integral with the plate and which is forme-d withone or more perforations El). Projecting from the straight edge of theplate on each side of the tongue I9 are the relatively short andrelatively narrow tongues 2|. The center of the plate ES is formed toprovide a central portion 22 which is interiorly screw threaded toengage with the threads of the screw threaded portion I2 of the shankIll. This central portion 22 is preferably thickened and constitutes ineffect a nut which is rigidly connected with and forms part of the plateI8.

The lift with the plate I8 embedded therein and the tongues I9 and 2|projecting therefrom is sold as one unit and with this heel lift, thereis also sold, as part of the unit, the shank I0. The plate I8 is smallerthan the lift I'I itself so that this lift may be cut down if necessary,to fit the heel in case the customer has bought a heel lift which is toolarge for the particular heel to be fitted with the lift.

In the use of this device, the shank I8 is screwed into the body of theheel A, as previously described and as shown in Figure 6 by means of thecap I4. lIhe cap I4 is then removed and the lift II is screwed in place.There is an opening 23 in this lift which coincides with the opening inthe central portion 22 and the screw threaded portion I2 of the shank isjust long enough to permit this lift to be screwed home and tightly fitagainst the lower end of the heel A. After the lift has been screwedhome, the tongue I9 is forced up against the breast of the heel andnailed thereto by one or more brads passing through the openings 20.These brads will be sold with the heel unit. The tongues 2l are thenbent up against the inner face or breast of the heel. If desired, thetongue I9 may rst be bent up and then a piece of leather may be gluedover the tongue I9 to conceal it and then the brad driven through thiscovering and through one o-r more of the openings 28. O-n the otherhand, all of the tongues I9 and 2l may be bent down and covered by astrip so as to entirely conceal these parts. Obviously, this will be amatter for the taste and convenience of the user.

It will be seen that this device permits the ready detachment of wornheel lifts and the ready replacement of these heel lifts by other heellifts. It will also be seen that my construction prevents the heel liftsfrom turning around the center formed by the shank IIJ and that the heellifts will be held rigidly in place against any turning or twistingmovement. When it is desired to remove the heel lift and replace it witha new heel lift, this may be readily accomplished by lifting up on thetongue I9 and pulling out the brads, then lifting up the tongues 2|until all the tongues are parallel with the heel lift and then rotatingthe heel lift to unscrew it from the shank. The shank, of course, is tobe left in the heel and a new heel lift applied, as described. It willbe noted that no tools have to be used in applying the screw or the heellift of either except what is commonly found in any household, namely, ascrew driver, and if desired, a pair of pliers or small wrench. Thus,anybody can apply the shank I0 to a heel and there is no necessity of aShoemaker to perform this operation. There will be no wear on the plateI8 nor on the nut-like center portion of the plate as these will beembedded within the heel lift itself. The construction permits not onlythe replacement of worn heels but permits heels on a pair of shoes to betransposed every so often to thus equalize the wear on these heels.

While I have described the plate I8 as being preferably embedded in arubber lift, it will be understood that any composition may be used forforming this lift and that two sections of leather might be disposed oneon each side of the plate I8 and thus embed the plate in the leather. Ido not wish to be limited except as called for in the appended claims,to the embedding of the plate I8 within the lift. as the centralunderface of the lift might be cut out and the plate I8 be disposedwithin this cut-out portion without the plate being actually embedded inthe lift. It will be seen that the underface of the lift in theconstruction shown in the figures is imperforate so that no water willbe forced up through a perforation and thus destroy or cause thedeterioration of the screw shank or the coactive parts.

While I have before referred tothis heel lift as being particularlyapplicable to womens shoes, it is to be understood that it is equallyapplicable to the heel lifts of mens shoes and childrens shoes, or shoesof any style, the dimensions of the metallic plate and lift being, ofcourse, changed to suit the style of shoe to which it is to be applied.

What is claimed is:-

1. As an article of manufacture, a heel lift attaching means including aplate formed for insertion within a heel lift and having a centralthickened portion formed with a central threaded aperture, the platehaving a tongue projecting from its inside edge, and a shank for holdingthe lift upon a heel, the shank having a wood screw for a portion of itslength for engagement in a heel and having a machine thread on theremainder of its length and adapted to engage in the threaded aperturein the thickened portion of the plate.

2. As an article of manufacture, a heel lift including a plate embeddedwithin the lift and having a central thickened threaded opening, theplate having three tongues projecting outward beyond the inside face ofthe lift, the middle tongue being longer than the lateral tongues andbeing apertured for the passage of a brad, the tongues being adapted tobe bent up against the breast of a heel to which the lift is applied,the inside face of the lift having an aperturecoinciding with thecentral aperture in the plate, and a shank for attaching the lift to theheel, the shank having one portion thereof formed of a. wood screw andthe remainder of the shank having a machine screw adapted to engage inthe threaded opening in the center of said plate.

3. As an article of manufacture, a heel lift including a plate embeddedwithin the lift and having a central thickened threaded opening, theplate having three tongues projecting outward beyond the inside face ofthe lift, the middle tongue being longer than the lateral tongues andbeing apertured for the passage of a brad, the tongues being adapted tobe bent up against the breast of a heel to which the lift is applied,the inside face of the lift having an aperture coinciding with thecentral aperture in the plate, and a shank for attaching the lift to theheel, the shank having one portion thereof formed of a wood screw andthe remainder of the shank having a machine screw adapted to engage inthe threaded opening in the center of said plate, the lift having across-sectional area substantially greater than the area of the platewhereby the margin of the lift may be cut down to cause it to t a heel.

4. As an articleV of manufacture, a shoe heel having a shank embeddedtherein, the shank having a portion projecting beyond the end face ofthe heel, this portion having a machine thread and a lift having ametallic plate embedded therein formed with a central thickened screwthreaded portion engageable with the shank, the plate having threetongues projecting outward from the inside edge of the lift, the middletongue being longer than the lateral tongues and being apertured, thetongues being bent upward against lift, and a shank for holding the heellift upon a heel, the shank having threads at its butt end adapted forengagement with the threaded aperture in the plate, the remainder of theshank having a pointed screw adapted for insertion in 5 a heel.

ESTHER E. R. SWANSON.

